| Hospital Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Tony Colman (London Elektricity) and Chris Goss |
| Genre | Drum and Bass Electronic music Liquid Funk Breakbeat |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Location | London |
| Official Website | hospitalrecords.com |
Hospital Records is an independent record label based in South London. Primarily releasing Drum and bass, the label was started in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss, and has grown in recent years to become one of the most well known labels within UK dance music. The label is home to artists such as High Contrast, Netsky, London Elektricity, Danny Byrd, Camo & Krooked, Mistabishi, Logistics, Nu:Tone and Cyantific, but also releases tracks from a whole host of other artists across the DnB genre. From its HQ in Forest Hill, South London, Hospital also runs the more experimental label Med School, as well as publishing company "Songs In The Key Of Knife" and their worldwide events brand "Hospitality".
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In 1996, London Elektricity was the recording name of Goss and Colman. They released their debut album Pull the Plug in 1999. The first Outpatients compilation (2000) included appearances from Landslide, Marcus Intalex and Aquasky, and a mixture of jazz- and disco-influenced house, UK garage and breakbeat. Goss joined Colman to form the electronica-duo London Elektricity, but parted again in 2002 to focus on managing the label.
Hospital's early drum and bass output earned the label an underground fanbase, but it was London Elektricity's "Song in the Key of Knife", released in Spring 1998, that launched Hospital to the forefront of the scene. As London Elektricity, Tony and Chris' first long player "Pull The Plug" released in the summer of 99, received much critical acclaim and is still widely regarded as a classic album, using Jazz, Latin, and Soul influences far removed from the overlong and pretentious drum and bass albums of the time.
In 2001, Hospital signed Welsh producer High Contrast: he followed his debut with a series of strong releases and a well-received LP, True Colours in 2002, which helped push the label to the forefront of the scene. Although Chris Goss had parted London Elektricity, in 2003 the band released a second album with Tony Colman drawing in a range of musicians and vocalists and turned the project into a live band. Meanwhile, further signings Nu:Tone, Logistics, Landslide, Cyantific and in 2005 Q-Project have bolstered their position as one of the biggest players in DJ-oriented liquid funk. In 2007 the label signed Mistabishi with his debut album 'Drop' which dropped in early 2009. Later that year High Contrast released a 'greatest hits' double CD with his tracks on one CD and his best remixes on the other. Hospital's first major compilation since 2007, Sick Music, was released in May 2009 featuring 21 artists. In September Logistics' third studio album 'Crash, Bang, Wollop was released. At the end of 2009 Hospital signed the Russian producer Subwave and the Belgium producer Netsky in the same month as the Future Sound of Russia compilation was released,.
Besides their label, they also run a regular drum and bass night called Hospitality which was originally at Herbal in Shoreditch, London and later for the larger and more infrequent special events, Heaven in Charing Cross before moving to matter at the O2 in 2009. matter has since gone into administration and as such, its sister club, Fabric in Smithfields, has taken on the Hospitality brand. The brand has also been exported to other British cities such as cities such as Norwich, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Brighton, Bristol (on the boat, The Thekla), Cambridge and Edinburgh.
In 2006, Hospital Records reached their 100th release with a special "10 Years Of Hospital" 3xCD pack with London Elektricity, High Contrast and Cyantific covering many of Hospital's releases, and a 2x12" EP "Hospitalised", offering collaborations from High Contrast vs Logistics, Syncopix vs Nu:Tone, London Elektricity vs Logistics and Cyantific vs Q-Project.
In December 2011, Hospital Records won the Best Label title at the 2011 Drum and Bass Arena Awards [1].
Established in 1996, Songs In The Key Of Knife is a leading independent publisher of electronic dance music and is a subsidiary of Hospital Records Limited. It protects the publishing copyrights for a large repertoire of musical works/compositions by the artists residing at Hospital Records and over 100 other talented writers creating a variety of electronic/dance music.
Songs In The Key Of Knife is dedicated to the detailed administration of accurate catalogue data and the meticulous collection/distribution of worldwide royalties, ensuring all musical works are registered with collection societies in all territories (e.g. PRS for Music in the UK). Songs In The Key Of Knife capitalises on a multitude of income streams including those derived from internet streaming services, music sales (physical and digital), live performances, DJ sets, TV/radio broadcasts, synchronisation and mobile phone services. An in-house Sync department actively promotes the Songs In The Key Of Knife repertoire to a commercial audience and endeavours to licence music to television, film, computer games and other media agencies and organisations.
Working in partnership with long-established music publishers Fairwood Music Ltd, Nichion Inc and Westbury Music Ltd, Songs In The Key Of Knife makes every effort to develop the careers of both established and emerging writers whilst maximizing the potential of their works.[2]
In July 2006 Hospital Records announced the arrival of a new sister label, Med School, which will be catering for, as they put it, a more experimental style of drum and bass. Artists assigned to the Med School Label include the up and coming Brazilian producer S.P.Y, CLS, the London based duo Fracture And Neptune and Icicle. New artists added to the roster include Anile, Bulb, Bop, Circa, Craggz, Derrick, DJ Madd, Electrolyte, Eleven8, Enei, Flame, Implex, Infiltrata, Inztance, Joe Syntax, Kharm, Lung, Martsman, Minotaur, Naraka, Nuage, Pryzma, Randomer, Rawtekk, REDS, Royalston, So:Flow, Spherique, Stray, Synkro, Tonika and Trisector.
M*A*S*H is a sub-label of Hospital Records. It was created by Tony Colman and Chris Goss and designed to enable them to release 1 or 2 tracks from whoever brings the right flavour. It is a dancefloor-specific label for 12-inch only material.
Galactic Disco was a sister label to Hospital Records, started at the same time in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss as an outlet for disco influenced UK funky house music. Colman and Goss released music under the artist aliases Future Homosapiens, Orchestra Galactica and Funky Nasa across fifteen 12" releases and two album. The Future Homosapiens album 'Moonrock' was listed in Mixmag's top 10 dance albums of 1997. The final release on Galactic Disco was in 1999.
Tony Colman hosts the Hospital Records Podcast, which is available to download on iTunes. He is occasionally joined by a guest, sometimes a Hospital Records artist or an up-and-coming drum and bass artist. Tony often plays demos from budding producers on the podcast. Produced by Matt Riley at Hospital HQ the podcast has also won the BT Digital Music Award for Best Podcast in 2006, 2007[3] and 2008. The podcast recently reached 150 episodes which was marked with a live stream of the podcast posted on YouTube. In Early 2010 the podcast reached the top of iTunes UK's music podcast charts.
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